In recent years, electronic devices capable of running applications have become very popular among users. For example, electronic devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, and personal computers may include applications such as a messaging application, a contact application, a calendar application, a photo application, etc. In addition, users may search and download other applications (e.g., a banking application), from an application provider via the Internet. These applications provide the users with convenient access to a variety of functionalities and information.
The applications accessed by users often include personal or private information that the users may not want others to access. For example, entails in a messaging application (e.g., email application) may include information for personal or business use. Similarly, a banking application of a user may include or allow access to financial information of the user such as an account number and an account balance.
Given the confidential nature of information that may be accessed through applications, conventional electronic devices generally provide one or more security features to limit access to such applications. Such security features may require authentication of a user for accessing an application. For instance, the user may be required to input a personal code and allowed access to the application when the code is verified.
Some conventional electronic devices are also equipped with speech recognition capabilities. In such devices, an application may be accessed in response to a spoken command from a user. To prevent unauthorized access to the application, these devices may verify the authenticity of the spoken command based on voice characteristics of an authorized user. However, authentication of the authorized user in such devices may not be reliable since the voice characteristics of the authorized user may change over time or as a result of a condition of the user.